It's the Moments that Matter

Pentecost Sunday

The day was beautifully cool with high clouds, but no winds at all. We have a promise of light rain and calm winds toward morning, and the same tomorrow, although winds may be over ten miles an hour.

I spent the day quietly, except for a visit to Barnes & Noble with Al to take advantage of the weekend in-store Buy One, Get One Free ebook deal. Today’s theme was “beach reading”. Getting ahead of us, here in North Dakota. Definitely not beach weather.

I added to the stack of unwashed dishes and flatware, preparing several meals, today. Breakfast was light. Just scrambled eggs with veggies, fruit on the side, and six ounces of fresh, homemade yogurt. (Samantha, my cocker spaniel, is very good at cleaning yogurt jars of all remnants.)

Scrambled Eggs, Yogurt, Grapes and Blackberries

For lunch, I ate a chicken breast (rotisserie leftovers), and then spent several quiet hours in thought, while Al was out and about. The pistol range was closed for Sunday and Monday, which are the days that Al usually volunteers.

I enjoyed walking in the back yard with Samantha and also reading some posts on Facebook. My nephew Patrick and his wife (two years married, perhaps) are expecting their first child and are picking names. Alex wants the first two children (assuming a boy and a girl) named after her father and mother, but has asked Patrick to select middle names. So he made a post of acceptable names and asked for opinions.

I also picked up my copy of The Trail of Divine Beauty (R.L. Laliberte, 1996), today. I have finished chapter one, which is the introduction to the dissertation: “Jonathan Edwards: A Philosophical Life”. Chapter two, “Philosophy of Nature: The External World”, brings me to somewhat more familiar ground. It was a course in contemporary religious thought that drew me into a major in philosophy. Different eras, but the same basic issues are there. Edwards died shortly before Hegel was born.

Samantha had dog kibbles with a teaspoon of yogurt for her dinner, and I made up a salad of eggs, tomatoes, cucumber, &c., and greens, with grapes to finish.

Supper Salad with Tea

I have appreciated the mix of activity and thought and relaxation. We have tomorrow, also, during which there are no obligations. Al is still working on his Python programming and also picking up more useful documentation on PHP and HTML to combine with his SQL experience during his last position before retirement.

After I brought Samantha inside, this afternoon, I went back for a few minutes to take pictures of the new tulips that have opened. I had not thought that they would have survived the many cold and frosty nights since they first peeked above the ground.

Yellow Tulip Turning RedMixed Red and Yellow Tulips

The wild flax plants are also making an appearance in the garden plot, which has been too wet for me to prepare for planting. At least there will be all those lovely wild flax flowers! It looks like they’ve spread out since last year’s showing. Happiness!